We show that for each k> 0, MA/1 (MA with 1 bit of advice) doesn’t have circuits of size nk. This implies the first superlinear circuit lower bounds for the promise versions of the classes MA, AM and ZPP NP We extend our main result in several ways. For each k, we give an explicit language in (MA ∩ coMA)/1 which doesn’t have circuits of size nk. We also adapt our lower bound to the average-case setting, i.e., we show that MA/1 cannot be solved on more than 1/2 + 1/nk fraction of inputs of length n by circuits of size nk. Furthermore, we prove that MA does not have arithmetic circuits of size nk for any k. As a corollary to our main result, we obtain that derandomization of MA with O(1) advice implies the existence of pseudo-random generators computable using O(1) bits of advice. 1

Abstract. We prove several results about the average-case complexity of problems in the Polynomial Hierarchy (PH). We give a connection among average-case, worst-case, and non-uniform complexity of optimization problems. Specifically, we show that if P NP is hard in the worst-case then it is either hard on the average (in the sense of Levin) or it is non-uniformly hard (i.e. it does not have small circuits). Recently, Gutfreund, Shaltiel and Ta-Shma (IEEE Conference on Computational Complexity, 2005) showed an interesting worst-case to averagecase connection for languages in NP, under a notion of average-case hardness defined using uniform adversaries. We show that extending their connection to hardness against quasi-polynomial time would imply that NEXP doesn’t have polynomial-size circuits. Finally we prove an unconditional average-case hardness result. We show that for each k, there is an explicit language in P Σ2 which is hard on average for circuits of size n k. 1

For relativized arguments, we propose to restrict oracle queries to "stringent" ones. For example, when comparing the power of two machine models relative to some oracle set X, we restrict that machines of both types ask queries from the same segment of the set X. In particular, for investigating polynomial-time (or polynomial-size) computability, we propose polynomial stringency, bounding query length to any fixed polynomial of input length. Under such stringent oracle access, we show, for example, an oracle G such that P , for any constant d 1.

For relativized arguments, we propose to restrict oracle queries to "stringent" ones; for comparing the power of two machine models relative to some oracle set, stringent relativization is to restrict machines of both types to ask queries on the same segment of the oracle. In particular, for investigating polynomial-time (or polynomial-size) computability, we propose polynomial stringency, bounding query length to any fixed polynomial of input length. Under such stringent oracle access, we show an oracle G such that BPP .

Employing the variational approach having the two-body reduced density matrix (RDM) as variables to compute the ground state energies of atomic-molecular systems has been a long time dream in electronic structure theory in chemical physics/physical chemistry. Realization of the RDM approach has benefited greatly from recent developments in semidefinite programming (SDP). We present the actual state of this new application of SDP as well as the formulation of these SDPs, which can be arbitrarily large. Numerical results using parallel computation on high performance computers are given. The RDM method has several advantages including robustness and provision of high accuracy compared to traditional electronic structure methods, although its computational time and memory consumption are still extremely large.